Bipartisan lawmakers set to unveil bill to reopen DHS, bar ICE from wearing masks

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers is poised to unveil legislation that combines funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) with tougher rules for federal immigration enforcement officers. 

Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.), the leaders of the Problem Solvers Caucus, are putting the final touches on a proposal that would reopen DHS, after weeks of being shut down, while establishing new guardrails governing the conduct of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Fitzpatrick said they’re aiming to introduce the bill Friday.

As a sweetener for Democrats, the list of ICE reforms goes beyond the offer made by Senate Republicans and the Trump administration, to include a ban on face masks and new warrant requirements preceding arrests.

To entice Republicans, it couples the mask prohibition, a chief demand of Democrats, with harsher criminal penalties for doxing federal officers, which has been a top concern among GOP lawmakers.

The bill arrives as party leaders in the Senate have traded proposals for reopening DHS throughout the week, with all of them rejected by the other side. 

In an effort to break the long impasse, members of the Problem Solvers Caucus huddled Thursday in the basement of the Capitol Visitors Center to discuss their emerging........

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